Kim Possible Rides Again: Prologue
by hotrod2001
Summary: The adventures of Kim Possible and Ron Stoppable continues as a maverick Global Justice agent is offered an interesting opportunity.
1. Chapter 1

*October 2008*

"Well boy, you are in one heap of trouble." said the pepper-haired police detective as he paced around the dim-lit interrogation room.

"Possession of a stolen vehicle, possession of unregistered semi-automatic weapons, possession of explosive materials, possession of another stolen vehicle, 13 destroyed police cars, 4 buildings with structural damage, an overpass on the uptown freeway collapsed, and assault on no less than 16 SWAT team members. Eight of which are currently receiving medical attention compliments of you and your little Jackie Chan act you pulled over there on 31st Street. You sir, are in a world of caca. And you're in it deep."

"So tell me," he said as he slammed a very thick file folder on the table across from a slouched over figure, "what were you and your little buddies we have down in general lockup planning to do with an entire of armory of weapons? Deer hunting?"

The suspect remained motionless, through the detective's interrogation, moving only to look at his cuffed hands while the detective searched through the folder before pulling out a charred piece of paper from the folder and placed it in front of him.

"Oh wait! There was this little manifesto we found in the van. You weren't going hunting, where you boy? No no...you were going to go blow something up, am I right?"

...

"And here,'' throwing more charred papers on the table top, ''here is some schematics of the Uptown Expo Center. You weren't going to try doing something over there today were you? What was over there today? Let's check the Center's calendar shall we? Hey look at that! A conference for Jewish high school students. Do you and your buddies got a problem with high schoolers?"

Still nothing.

"Oh, wait, they're Jewish. You and your bald buddies down in lockup got a problem with The Chosen People? Got a little Mein Kampf app on your phone do ya?

That resulted in a slight huff and a roll of the eyes.

"You know? He snarked as he leaned in to give his best "bad cop" impersonation, " of all of the low lying, scum-eating, bottom-dwelling pieces of garbage that occupy this planet, there is one group of people I truly, honestly, despise more than anyone, and that's a two-bit racist pu-"

"Sir" another detective said as he peered into the interrogation room. "You and your pal there have a...visitor."

"Tell the visitor they can wait," the detective replied discouragingly as he lost his frame of focus. "I'm in the middle of questioning a piece of trash who left four city blocks burning."

"I don't think that's an op-" The wide-eyed detective began to say before being cut off by a woman in a sleek uniform who pushed him out of the way as she forcefully entered the room with a large metal briefcase.

Offended, the detective stood up and headed towards the woman. "I'm sorry lady, you might not have understood English, but I'm in the middle of interrogating a suspect, and it doesn't involve you." the detective started in as he puffed his chest out and obstructed the woman's path.

Unimpressed with the attempt at intimidation, the woman gave a scowl as she adjusted her eye patch and pushed her way past the officer As the detective continued belittling the woman who made her way into the room, she ignored his scolds as she adjusted her eye patch and began opening the steel-enforced briefcase.

"Actually Sir, it does involve me...and I am here to take your suspect into my custody. I appreciate your apprehension, but I will be taking it from here."

"Excuse me?!" the detective said offended "I can't stand it when you Feds march into my precinct and act as if you own the place. This is my case! My suspect and he is going NOWHERE! Understand!"

With that, the man who had showed no emotion since being arrested raised his head and gave a slight smirk as if he knew the path the dialog would take next.

"First things first sir, I am not FBI" she said as she showed off her uniform which was definately not FBI standard issue, ''And your 'suspect' is my agent who has been deep undercover for the better part of six months in an attempt to foil a domestic terror plot...something that it appeared he managed to do."

"Pfft! Agent my rear! Did you see the damage this guy did? You don't just walk away from that sort of thing!" He's staying here with the rest of his little racist scum gang in lockup until he's processed, regardless of what 'department' you happen to be out of."

"Like I said Detective, deep undercover..." she remarked unsympathetically as she placed the briefcase on the table and opened it, exposing a strange, metal device with a red button and computer screen inside of it. "...and with his arrest, you've managed to keep his cover from being blown. Well done. But now it's time for him to be extracted."

"No, I don't think so. I mean, what the heck kind of uniform is that even? Which branch of law enforcement? The USS Enterprise?"

Acting as if everything the detective spoke was irrelevant, the woman pulled out a cell phone and handed it to the detective "Here, please contact the Attorney General's office and inform him that Global Justice Agent 00001 is in your precinct and is attempting an 'asset extraction' in regards to Operation: Western Storm and that you're being an obstructionist.

"With pleasure lady." The smug detective grabbed the phone, and began to dial.

"Yeah this is Detective Spotter in Sacramento. I need to talk to the Attorney General in relation to an 'asset extraction'…  
yes…  
uh huh…  
Operation: Western Storm...  
Agent zero-zero-zero-one…  
female…  
has an eye patch…  
Dr. Director…seriously?  
SERIOUSLY?  
But, my cars!  
My men! My…  
yes sir…  
of course sir…  
my apologies…  
thank you sir...

The detective then hung up the phone, somewhat stunned as he looked at the two agents, who had watched with I-told-you-so smirks across their faces.

"You...are free..to go." the detective told them in a manner which was if he had swallowed a jagged pill.

"Excellent." Dr. Director chirped with a grin. ''In that case, we will not need these anymore." Dr. Director said as she took the large case file and fed it into the briefcase device, which appeared to be a portable shredder and incinerator, and then proceeded to unshackle her agent and help him up.

"Thank you for your cooperation!" she snarked with a small bow as they left.

Once the two agents were outside the room, Dr. Director's demeanor went from charming to cross within a matter of steps. No exchange was made between the two of them as they made their way through the precinct.

"Thanks Doc for getting me out of there, I was getting a little worried that you might not come for me, it was getting a little heated in there with Boss Hogg."

Director ignored her agent's gratuity as she swung the precinct's doors wide open and began walking with an obvious annoyed pace in her step down the sidewalks of Sacramento.

"Are you mad at me Doc? C'mon, I did what you told me to."

With a fast heel-to spin right into his face, she replied "I didn't tell you to make Northern California look like a Michael Bay film, Agent Trepid."

"Hey, I was embedded with a branch of the Aryan Brotherhood. I couldn't help that they decided to turn the escape route into a war zone after the plot was botched."

"You could have directed them out into the North Country where there is a sparse population. Instead, you drove them straight into the center of the capital of California! California, Ken! This isn't some podunk town like Wall or Milwaukee. The whole chase was broadcast nationwide to millions of people. This was supposed to be a covert operation! A simple plot foil and apprehension." She continued to scold as a young skateboarder juked in between them down the sidewalk. "Instead, you made a path of destruction that will probably take years to clean up!"

"I take it we are going to have to pay for that huh?" Trepid sheepishly replied.

"Yes, we will pay for it through our collateral damage fund…" she said as they turned into a back alleyway and into an old crusty phone booth"...Again."

They shut the door behind them, while Doctor Director began to dial a sequence of numbers. There was a ring on the phone and then the two of them dropped through a trap door. Soon the duo were riding on a secret tube system to Global Justice's headquarters. Once they arrived, Dr. Director quickly exited her tube and continued a steamed walk through Global Justice's command center towards her office with Agent Trepid on her tail.

"Ten million dollars in damages last week and an estimated forty million dollars today. Ken, we can't keep up this level of destruction on our missions. We just simply can't afford it." she scolded as she handed off the metal briefcase to one of the Global Justice techies.

"But we caught the bad guys, Doc. We stopped the bombs and the low lifes responsible are in jail because of the actions we took. You and I both know that damaged property is by far a better outcome than scores of teenagers in body bags."

Ken's self-serving excuse continued to receive a cold response from his superior. They made it to the entrance to Director's office where after a brief elevator ride found them in her own personal command center which overlooked the entire facility. Once inside, Director's demeanor after a few huffs had turned from being angry to slightly melancholy. She slowly walked over a large window overlooking the facility and watched as dozens of Global Justice agents and employees bustled hard at work below her. After a long silence, she dropped her head against the glass as she folded her arms behind her back.

"The Dow lost another five hundred points today Ken." she said as she rolled her head against the glass. "I fear that we are on the verge of some very difficult times."

"I...um, how difficult are we talking?"

"Very difficult Ken." she said as she turned her attention to her agent "Very difficult indeed." she walked back to her desk and slumped dow into her office chair. "We've been operating with our belts rather tight for a while now, a global recession will do nothing short of killing whatever funding we have left."

"But, we're not on the books with any country in regards to funding?"

"Which is why we will get cut first. Four hundred dollar hammers and one thousand dollar toilet seats will be the first things cut by bureaucrats looking to stay afloat. I've already been summoned to meet with the American and Canadian defense departments later this week to discuss...'options'." to which she sarcastically air quoted.

"What do you think will happen?"

"The writing is on the wall Trepid." she replied propping her feet up on her desk while again looking out her office window towards her operations. "Governments will be too busy fighting to keep the funding for their own defense departments over a third party organization which doesn't exist."

"So...where does that leave us?"

Dr. Director woke up her desktop computer and opened a document file which looked oddly like a resume and began to type as she multitasked..  
"It leaves us dead in the water."  
"It means that our agents will be furloughed, relocated,  
and most likely reassigned back to their respective military branches and countries,  
it means we're done.  
You.  
Me.  
Everyone."

Dejected by the news he had just received, Ken took a deep breath, closed his eyes and tried to collect his thoughts before he replied to the news his superior officer had just given him.

"So, um, I guess I could count on you for a job reference?" He asked, trying to lighten the situation although it was obvious he himself was trying to keep his emotions in check.

"Unfortunately no," she replied as she looked up from her typing. "We are a secret agency. I can't vouch for secret agents of an organization which technically doesn't exist."

"That was kind of a joke, Ma'am. Although maybe we could, you know, slightly exaggerate and say you were my shift manager at a security company?"

"Indeed. The way things might go, it might be me asking you for a reference." she said with a concerned smirk looking up from her keyboard.

After a brief moment of awkward silence, Dr. Director got up from her desk and walked over to Agent Trepid and put her hand on his shoulder.

"Ken, you have always been one of my star players, you always showed great potential, and then how you picked up the ball after Will… well, we would not have been as successful of an organization without what you have accomplished, even if you destroyed a few dozen buildings or so along the way."

Ken smirked in acknowledgement. "It's appreciated Doc. What do you think will become of you?"

"I've got a few connections in Washington still, they might know of someone who is in the need of a former director of an international crime fighting agency which formally never existed." She joked.

"And, what about your star agent?" Ken grinned "Know of anything that he might be able to pursue?"

"Actually," Director replied, walking back to her desk to retrieve something from a drawer. "If you are interested, there is one opportunity that might be up your alley."

"Oh?"

"It's a 'Lone Wolf' job, privately funded by a few tech companies in the Pacific Northwest. It doesn't pay great but it would allow you to continue what you do best along with plenty of resources and a skeleton crew for support." She opened up a desk drawer and pulled an item out of it. "It was mothballed about a year ago after the assets went to college but it was left open-ended in case someone else wanted to pick it back up where they left off."

She got out of her chair and handed the item from her desk to Ken and then started walking back to the elevator to check on things in the master control room.

"Think it over and let me know if you're interested in it. If you are, I'll make a few phone calls. While we still have phones to use."

With that the elevator doors shut behind her and Agent Trepid was left alone standing in the middle of his superior's office with the item she had given him in his left hand.

After processing what had just happened, Ken took a deep sigh and held up the item Dr. Director had handed him. It was round and teal in color, and appeared to be worn on the wrist. He pushed one of the buttons on the top of the device which activated it, displaying the glowing letters "KP" across the small device's video screen.

"After the assets went to college?"

-END-


	2. Chapter 2

**Several Months Earlier, May 2007 -

WHAM! Went the Sloth's tires as they met the surface of the highway as it landed from its flight. Once on the ground, the jet engines disengaged and the 12-cylinder primary engine revved back into control.

"Boo-yah, KP! Now that is what I call making an exit!" Exclaimed Ron, as he fist-pumped his hands in the air, still in triumphant celebration over graduating high school.

"No big." Kim replied in her familiar catchphrase "It was just a little boost from dual hypersonic jet engines, breaking the sound barrier and checking the view from the stratosphere. Nothing too over the top." She said with a wink and a nod.

"Are you kidding me? The Air Force scrambled a freakin' fighter squadron on us!" Ron bragged.

"Yeah well, everyone's a little on edge as of late. You know, post-alien invasion and all."

As he began to calm down, Ron's buzz began to fade as he looked around at the desolate 4-lane highway they were traveling on. "So, uh, KP, where exactly are we going?"

"You'll see." she replied with a smirk. "I'd suggest that you tighten your seat belts though." she continued as she pressed a button on the steering wheel.

"Why's that KPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEËEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

The Sloth's turbo engines kicked in and the car launched into hyperdrive as it blasted down the stretch of highway leaving a trail of smoking pavement behind.

"WHOO HOOOOOOOOOOO!" Screamed Kim in a rare form of exuberance usually reserved for her boyfriend as the two of them blurred down the road.

A short while later as they began to approach Kim's secret destination, she disengaged the boosters and began to drive slow enough so that Ron could make out the surroundings in hopes that he would begin to pick up where they were going.

"Do you know where we are yet, Ron?" Kim asked with a smile.

Ron peered out his passenger side window and saw a vast tree line of evergreens along with a shoreline which was visible outside of Kim's window. "Coastal water, pine trees, bay bridge. NO WAY! Of course!"

Kim began to smirk as she pulled the car into a parking lot at the top of the hill in which Ron hopped out before she could complete the stop.

"Astoria!" Ron exclaimed as he walked around the gravel parking lot Kim had pulled into. "I remember our parents bringing us here when we were kids! I haven't been here in ages!"

"Yep." Kim responded as she turned her head to look at a large structure which stood behind them. "How about we go up to the top?"

"The Astoria Column! Wow, I forgot how awesome that thing looked. Remember when we used to hock lugees off of the top?" Ron laughed.

"Yeah, your father thought it was hilarious. Especially that stray one that kind of hit him." Kim replied, eyes rolling.

"At least it was your lugee. If it were me, I would have been grounded for weeks."

"Um, yeah...thanks for reminding me of my crowning achievement." Kim said sarcastically as she turned her head to look at the structure. "How about we climb?"

With that, the pair of teens took to the spiral staircase and began to ascend to the observation deck above. Kim made it to the top of the tower first and ran over to the railing, overlooking the city and ocean below.

"It's an amazing view isn't it Ron? Ron?"

Kim turned around to see that her boyfriend struggling to make it up the final flight of stairs, out of breath and clinging to the handrail.

"I'm...sure *huff huff*...it's...beautiful, *huff* KP." Ron said between gasps, "I think I might have eaten too much pizza at the graduation party."

Once he managed to caught his breath, Ron made it over to the railing where his girlfriend was patiently waiting for him. He keeled over the railing in an attempt to catch his breath, while Kim gently took her hand and rubbed his back trying to calm him down.

"Don't even think about lobbing one over the edge." Kim said jokingly as she referred to his old spitting escapades. "I can't believe it's been almost ten years since we were last here. It was like the annual Possible/Stoppable vacation destination."

"Yeah, it was one of the highlights of life in elementary school. Why did we stop doing it?"

"I guess we just got older and things changed…" Kim sighed in nostalgia, "Nana retired and moved to Florida, so we started going there to visit her, and your parents wanted to start seeing the world so, I guess we couldn't do both with everyone's schedules."

"That's too bad. Those were good times...so um, why did we come up here tonight?" Ron asked as the two of them leaned over the railing and watched the moon rise over the water.

"It's been a while since we have been here. I wanted to come back and enjoy it with you before we went off to college. Just the two of us." she replied as she watched the reflection of moonlight dance across the water in the bay.

"Before we go off to college? Ron said in a slightly depressed voice. "Don't you mean before you go off to a prestigious university in Paris, or Rome or London for who knows how long while I stay here and go to Lowerton Community College with the rest of the losers?"

"Ron, you're not a loser..." Kim replied in a strong tone as she leaned next to him before bowing her head "...and, I'm...I'm not going to Europe."

"What?!" Ron replied shocked "Kim, for months all you have talked about is going to school abroad, about how you were accepted to some of the most prestigious universities in the world. How can you turn that down?! What happened?!"

"I lost my home Ron...it was destroyed in the invasion, my parents found it as a pile of rubble after they left the graduation ceremony. Outside of a few belongings, nothing's left."

"But KP, wouldn't they have homeowners insurance to take care of that?"

"I don't think 'alien invasion' is covered by their policy Ron. Even with my parents' salaries between rebuilding the house and taking care of the Tweebs, having money to send me to college in another country, just, doesn't seem..." she looked down in disappointed irony "possible."

Sobered by the news, Ron dropped his normal goofiness and took on a more serious tone. "KP I am so sorry. I don't know what to say..."

"Well, If it's any consolation, your parents have apparently offered my family the use of their guestroom and attic rooms...so the Stoppables have come through for us...so they're taken care of."

"And you?" Ron asked.

Kim reached into her back pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper and handed it to Ron. He began to unfold it and noticed it was an acceptance letter, to where became clear almost immediately once a giant green "O" appeared on the letterhead.

"Oregon?" Ron said surprised yet excited. "The great Kim Possible is going to the University of Oregon? Three hours away? The Ducks?!"

"Yep...quack quack.." she replied with an unenthusiastic hand gesture forming the famed "duck foot. "I was accepted there a few months ago, I'm going to call them tomorrow to see if they have any last-minute openings for a prospective student facing extreme circumstances."

"So... This is good or...bad?"

"It's good, I guess. Considering the circumstances." she replied as a gentle breeze began to blow through her long red hair. "It's not my first choice, but it's a good school. Plus I qualify for a few scholarships they offer, so that could help out with expenses. It would at least allow me to stay close to my family and help out as they rebuild and and I guess if I really wanted to see the world I could always do a semester abroad somewhere...I mean, it's not like we haven't been to Europe, Asia, Africa, or Outer Space before..." she winked as she worked up a smile.

Ron smiled back at his girlfriend as she tried to make light of the situation, reached over and gave her a hug trying to lighten the mood.

"I don't really know what to say. I feel horrible about the house, and that you can't go to Europe like you dreamed...but I can't help but feel happy that you're going to be closer to home."

''Yeah, I thought you'd say that." she said as she broke away from his embrace. ''Ron, the last couple of days has really made me think of a lot of things…''

"Oh? Like what KP?" Ron replied with a raised eyebrow.

"Like, maybe we should, you know, live in the moment…" her eyebrows beginning to turn upwards in uncertainty" You know, grab life by the horns, and not waste our time with small things. I mean, Warhok, I almost bought it with him and…"

"Go on." Ron replied, not liking where this conversation was going.

"And, well, the whole Lorwardian invasion kind of got me thinking, that life is short, and well..maybe I have been wasting time and that I shouldn't put off something I've needed to say for a while..''

'Kim, are you um, breaking up with me?" Ron said nervously.

"Huh, whuh? No! No, no, no! That's not what I was going to say! Of course not!"

"Okay, phew!" he said rather relieved "Sorry, you just sounded like you were going there."

"No silly, I wouldn't go there."

"Sorry, um, so what were you going to say then?"

Kim leaned off the railing and grabbed Ron's still-trembling hand. "That I love you." she replied with a warm, comforting smile.

"You...you love me?" Ron repeated making sure he had heard what he thought he had heard.

"Yep! I...love...you, Ron Stoppable." she reiterated with a wink and a giggle "and I think I've waited too long to tell you those words….although I'm pretty sure I knew it was the case for a while now.''

''I love you too KP!" a beaming Ron replied back.

"Good! Now, come here and kiss me…" Kim said as she leaned in with puckered lips.

Ron obliged, and leaned in and grabbed Kim into a warm embrace before their lips gently touched. Kim had other plans though as she decided to take their relationship to another level and opened her mouth and gently slipped her tongue into Ron's mouth. The move startled Ron for a second as he jumped but quickly got over the initial shock and returned the favor as his tongue met with hers. A few seconds later, Kim withdrew and pulled back to see the reaction of her boyfriend.

"Whoa." Ron managed to get out after a few seconds of coming to grasp with what just happened.

"Love me?" Kim asked in a playful banter as she batted her eyes at a stunned Ron.

''Oh yeah!" Ron replied "Totally love ya."

"Good...now come back here." She exclaimed as she grabbed Ron again and pulled him in for yet another deep passionate loving kiss which seemed to develop into their first make out session high atop the Astoria Column. After a few minutes of kissing they pulled apart and looked back over the bay.

"It's getting late. We should probably head back to Middleton." Kim sighed. Ron agreed and they began to head back down the stairs.

"You know KP, with you being down in Eugene, we could still keep doing missions…" Ron implied.

"True. But we'll have to see how it all works out. College life is going to be different than what we've been used to. Lots of homework, independence, a little bit of distance between us...it could get difficult. At least Shego and Drakken seem to be on the straight and narrow now."

"Pfft! logistics smolgistics." Ron chirped, "What's the worst that could possibly happen?"


	3. Chapter 3

- LATER THAT YEAR -

During a cool October night, Professor Dementor desperately scrambled through the back streets of downtown Seattle while clutching to a large metal briefcase. He dived into an alleyway and desperately tried to contact his henchmen.

"Myron...Myron! Come en zu incompetent ball of hayar!" He screamed on his communicator.

"Y-yes Professor...where are you? You're late for our extraction point, are you okay?"

"No zu fool, someting vent a foul! Dat bloody ginger gerl...she cvashed dee party! I zeed you to come to me ands gets ve outta heah!"

"Okay Professor, where is your location?"

"Vat?! Can you not USE DE GPS I GAVE YOU TO TVACK ME?!"

"You mean the GPS that is sitting here in the helicopter? The one you said that we wouldn't need for this 'open and closed' operation?" Myron replied.

"Zes, zat von…" Dementor replied beating himself over his own head. "Vy do I vet you ignorvamouses talk me into dese tings?"

"Because you threw it at us after we suggested to you that take it along in case something came up?"

"Warum… warum…" he sighed to himself in German as he looked around at his surroundings trying to get an idea to where he was at. As he looked up, he discovered that he was next to a high-rise construction site. He frantically looked around to try to identify where he was until he finally came across a large banner promoting the hotel which was being built. "Ah ha! Zit appeahs dat I'm at de verksite of de new Uptowns Superz Sveets Hotel. Can zu finds zat?"

"I'll see what I can do Professor." Myron replied. A few seconds later Dementor got the last bit of new that he wanted to hear at that moment. "Uh, sir...I don't know how you did this, but you are like, on the other side of the city from the extraction site."

"VAAAAAT?! How fah amz I froms where I'ms supposed to ve?"

"Like, um... miles. Did you not get on the light rail as we had discussed?"

"Light vail?" Dementor responded confused, "Since vhen did ve include a trip on a light vail in this plan?"

"We were discussing it right before Ted suggested that you wear a GPS tracker on you and you broke out in a fit of rage. Remember? It was the signature aspect of the exit plan, the part that once you acquired the Nautilus Wheel you would discretely walk onto the Sound Transit and take it all the way to the airport where you'd get on the helicopter? Maybe you forgot about it being that this was such a simple plan."

Dumbfounded, Dementor took a moment and realized that his temper might have prevented him from making sound judgments and hearing out the entire plan. Knowing he was being followed, he took a deep breath, thought for a minute and then replied back to his brother in-law, with a solution.

"Alvight, heres vat we do. Iz shall climb to ze top of zhis hotel and zen youse shall fly to me and extract me from ze top okay? I should ve at ze top in five minutes, I see vu there."

"Yeah, um...it's not going to be five minutes."

"Vat?! You flyz like a crow, it should take no time zat all to zet here!"

"Normally sir you'd be right. However you told us to keep the engines running while we waited for you. And that was 45 minutes ago, we're going to have to refuel."

"And zat vud takes how long?"

"Twenty minutes, hang tight we'll get you out of there"

"Myron, if zou veren't married to Hildegarde—"

"Listen! I was following orders, bro!" Myron snapped back, in the first time he ever showed a backbone to his boss-in-law "Twenty minutes! If you're not on the rooftop of that high rise ready to be picked up, YOU ARE ON YOUR OWN! DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR?"

"Yes. Yes...tventy minutes. Yes very good." Dementor replied back in utter shock that Myron stood up to him.

He signed off from his communicator and glanced up at the iron skeleton of the building he was to climb. He first threw the metal briefcase over the wooden fence and then attempted to jump up and pull himself over. To which, his short stature proved to be a bit of a challenge. Eventually he threw enough buckets, boxes and cinder blocks onto a pile big enough that he was able to successfully scale the fence. Once he was over, he grabbed the briefcase and bolted towards the heart of the construction site in the hope of finding a lift elevator to take him to the top quickly and effortlessly.

"Vere is das bloody leeft in dis wretched place?!" He uttered to himself in a panic as he felt around in the darkness, completely unprepared with a proper escape plan or flashlights. Eventually his fingers touched a box of which he felt the obvious roundness of lift buttons. "Ah ha, got 'cho!" he whispered in exclamation as he climbed into the elevator lift's safety cage and began to press the UP button.

"Cahm on! Cahm on! Vy aunt you going aap!?" He said as he desperately pushed the button again and again to no avail. The elevator's power was turned off, most likely to hinder people from doing the very thing he was attempting to do. "Vell, I guess ve vill just have to do zis de old fashion way." he muttered as he climbed out of the safety cage and headed for some scaffolding. Soon he had gotten himself into rhythm and was scaling the building floor by floor, girder by girder, beam by beam with a fair amount of ease until he reached the very top of the structure.

He looked at his communicator's clock. Ten minutes down, ten minutes to go. Gripping the briefcase close to his chest, he nervously paced back and forth across the top of the building, making sure he wasn't being followed. Once seeing the coast was clear, he backed up under an overhang and collapsed in a heavy heave of exhaustion as he awaited his extraction.

"Ahhhhhh." he sighed in relief as he slouched against the wall and took in the view of the Seattle skyline all around him.

"You know Professor, this building does have a set of stairs." a female voice said from the darkness followed soon after by a small LED light turning on revealing a smug Kim Possible sitting mere couple of feet away from him.

"GAAH!" Dementor shrieked as he leapt up and backed away from his foe. "Keem Possivle! You...you zook...diffvrent?"

Indeed Kim did look different than the last time she and Dementor's paths had crossed. She sported a more ragtag outfit consisting of an Oregon Ducks athletic tank top and a pair of Army surplus fatigues, a result from her sleek, custom made purple outfit being destroyed along with the rest of her belongings during the Lorwardian invasion. She also got a little adventurous in her first semester of college and cut a good portion of her hair off, leaving her with a chin-length bob.

"Yeah, you like it?" Kim replied brushing her hands through her short hair. "Don't look too much into it there Professor, new look, same old me. And you're not leaving this rooftop with that briefcase."

"And vhere is das buffoon?"

"He's...not...here!" Kim growled angrily as she gnashed her teeth.

"But how, how did zou findz me?"

"To be honest, I had lost you for a while until I heard a panicky voice with a Germanic accent screaming down a back alleyway. I overheard your whole escape plan and made it up here and just waited for you to show up. You should really invest in a GPS system." Kim replied sarcastically.

"Zat...is so ivonic." Dementor replied slightly humiliated. "Dis whole mission has veen an utter vailure from ze beginning."

Kim, still openly annoyed by Dementor's question about Ron sighed and gave her foe a proposition: "Look, I have an Organic Chemistry exam tomorrow of which I haven't studied for, I'm freezing due to this stupid rag tag outfit and I've got other things on my mind that don't involve you. And as for you, you're obviously having a night stuffed full of fail too. Neither of us want to be here, so let's make a deal. Hand over the briefcase, and I'll let you get on your helicopter and we can both go home."

"Zat's it?" Dementor asked perplexed. "No han-to-han fightzing? No scaling das crane?" He asked pointing to the crane high above the worksite.

"That's it. No strings attached." she replied. "I've got bigger deals than you going on tonight."

"Hmmm, zor request seems zound. Okay, deal." he said with a cautious grin.

"Good, now give me the briefcase and we'll be on our way. No funny stuff." Kim demanded.

"Has it your way." he said cautiously as he slowly approached Kim with her open arms.

After a few seconds of tense standoff, Kim was now holding the bottom of the briefcase with her hands, her eyes focused straight on Dementor's refusing to blink as the exchange slowly developed.

"FIVE MINUTES AWAY SIR!" shouted Myron over the communicator. The sudden message startled Kim and made her lose focus. And within a literal blink of an eye, Dementor shoved the base of the briefcase into her midsection, forcing her to drop hands to her stomach. As she grabbed her body in reflex, Dementor spun himself around and clocked her across her shoulders with the briefcase, sending a disoriented Kim to the ground in a brutal thud.

"Psyche you mind zucka! Ah ha ha ha ha ha!" Dementor gloated as he stood over a groaning Kim lying in a fetal position. "That's vat you get for tinking you can deal vith a super villaIIIIIIIAAAAAAYYYYYYYY! *THUMP*

Kim opened her eyes a crack to see what happened. As her vision came into focus she saw Professor Dementor lying in a moaning heap a few feet away from her. She rolled over onto her back and looked up to see Ron and Rufus standing over her in an attack stance.

"And that's what you get for underestimating Ron Stoppable's mastery of stealth fighting! Boo-yah!" Ron shouted at Dementor.

Yip yip, boo-yah! Rufus chirped while also assuming a fighting stance on Ron's shoulder.

Once he saw that Dementor wasn't about to get up, Ron knelt down to help Kim off the floor. ''A helping hand for my lady?" he offered.

"You're late again Ron." Kim snapped as batted away Ron's hand of assistance. "Where the HELL were you?!"

"Sorry, the Roncycle was a bit slower than I thought it would be. Plus I hit a Bueno Nacho with a drive through outside of Tacoma. Two Nachos for the price of o— Hey! You cut your hair?"

"Thank you Captain Obvious." she said as she stood up and wiped a little blood from her shoulder. "So let me get this straight. We had an urgent warning that there was a planned theft of a priceless piece of technology from one of our oldest clients and you STOPPED FOR DINNER?!"

"Well, you can't fight crime on an empty stomach can you KP ?"

"You can't fight crime when you no-show a mission and your partner gets bludgeoned by a briefcase either Ron!"

"Hey, I saved you on that last one."

"I shouldn't have been in that position to begin with!"

"Agreed, you should have had something in your system. Would have made you more alert."

"What I should have had was my partner here to help me take Dementor down. Dammit Ron, what is it with you and common sense lately?" Kim asked with a visible twitch in her eye.

lately? Rufus chirped.

"Are you saying I don't have common sense?"

"No, I'm _telling_ you that you don't have any common sense! Last week you were late when we foiled Duff Killigan's plans in the Everglades, botched up keeping Motor Ed from stealing those JATO systems, COMPLETELY no-showed when May Hemme took hostages on that yacht. Where is your head man?!"

"Hey, it's a long way to get here from Middleton!"

"It took me four and half hours to get here! And I still beat you here!"

"So? You have a faster car."

"So?! Take the bus! Call in a favor! You know? Like we used to do, ALL THE TIME?"

"Well, you could have picked me up."

"I ASKED YOU! You said you were good and had a ride already!"

"I did, but I had to eat!"

"I have an exam tomorrow!"

As Kim and Ron broke into a full-fledged shouting match, neither of them paid attention to Professor Dementor who slowly managed to make it back to his feet and began to sneak away from the arguing couple. Even though Rufus tried in vain to get his two friends' attention. They also were so engaged into their argument, neither of them paid attention to the sound of a helicopter getting closer and closer to their location. Rufus however did and as the helicopter hovered over the rooftop and a rope ladder was dropped from it, he decided to take matters into his own hand and jumped up on Kim's shoulder, grabbed her head and spun it around in the direction of the helicopter.

By the time she turned around, Dementor was already halfway up the ladder with the briefcase and the helicopter began to fly away.

"Auf Wiedersehen beetches!" Dementor laughed as he and and his henchmen flew off into the Seattle night.

Kim and Ron stood there speechless as the helicopter disappeared from view. Ron then turned back to his girlfriend who was now seething with rage.

"Well, that's just great! Congratulations Ron, we just botched our fourth mission in a row."

"Hey, that wasn't completely my fault." he said as he pointed towards the direction the helicopter left.

"Whatever Ron." a tired, bleeding Kim said as she limped passed him in disgust. "I'm heading back to Eugene. Hopefully whatever Dementor got away was something harmless like an espresso machine prototype and not some doomsday device."

"You mean we aren't going to go after him?"

"What's the point? You'll probably show up late to that too. I'll just get Wade to call Hego, Team Impossible, or heck maybe even Joss. I'm sure even she could manage to show up on time if asked and she's still in middle school."

"Okay, I get it KP. You're mad at me for being late, but what about you?"

"What about me?"

"Well, let's see, you never answer your phone when I call you to talk to you. I must have left seven voicemails the other day alone."

"It was more like eleven—and I was in class!"

"And then you've missed our last couple of time of playing Everlot together, which resulted in me getting killed by a pack of pygmy trolls and losing a lot of XP…"

"I had to study! I'm taking Physics and Organic Chemistry this semester Ron, I don't have time to play games!"

"Oh I see, but you have time to talk to Monique on the phone for an hour and a half. Yeah I know about that!"

"That's because I haven't talked to Monique in months and her grandmother died! You can't be serious in bringing that up as an act of jealousy!"

"Okay fine, but when I remember vividly a few times when I called you and your roommate picked up and said you were out with a group of people and you were going to be out for most of the night. You can't make time for a couple of minutes for me, but you'll go partying the night away with a bunch of floor mates?"

"Yeah, that 'group of friends' is more like a 'study group' Ron, do you really understand the amount of school work I have on me this semester?!"

"Hey, I'm in college too remember? I'm well aware of the homework."

"YOU'RE TAKING CULINARY ARTS CLASSES AT LOWERTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE! I'm having to learn about Stereoisomers, Spectroscopy and Keytones. The closest thing to chemistry that you are learning is how much yeast goes into a loaf of bread dough!"

"Hey! That's an essential part of the bread baking process!"

"AAARRRRGGGGHHHH!" Kim replied yanking on her short hair. "YOU...DON'T...GET...IT! I DO NOT HAVE THE TIME! I DO NOT HAVE THE TIME FOR STUDYING, I DON'T HAVE THE TIME FOR A SOCIAL LIFE, I DON'T HAVE A TIME FOR THESE STUPID MISSIONS AND I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR YOU!"

After an awkward silence on the rooftop, Ron finally responded.

"Well then, I guess you better head back to school then."

"Yeah. I guess so."

"I'll just be on my way then, I have an army of pygmy trolls to kill." he said as he pushed a button on his belt engaging a set of wings and a rocket booster from the backpack he was wearing.

"You... had a jetpack? THE WHOLE TIME!?" Kim snarled in disgust.

"Why yes, yes I did."

"Aaand it didn't occur to you to maybe use that to get you here a little faster?"

"It did. Just a couple of seconds ago. Come on Rufus, we're going home." He replied as he motioned to the mole rat to hop on before engaging the boosters and taking off into the night sky.

Kim watched as Ron disappeared out of sight before falling to her knees and screaming to the top of her lungs in frustration. She then bowed her head to the ground and began to cry as the neighborhood dogs began to howl and pigeons took flight in response to her scream.

-The Next Day-

"And that's how searing a piece of beef seals in the juices!" Ron exclaimed as he read from one of his culinary books to Hanna as she sat on his lap. "Now how about we learn about ancient technique of Robatayaki?"

"Yay!" Young Hanna replied in clueless excitement.

"I thought you'd like it Han, at least someone around here cares enough to listen to me...anyways...first off, Robatayaki is similar to barbecue and is a method of cooking which requi—"

"DING DONG!" went the doorbell to Ron's house.

"Who could that be at this hour?" Ron rhetorically asked his sister as he gently took her off his lap and laid her down in her pack and play next to a sleeping Rufus to go answer the door.

"Hello? Oh, it's you." Ron said as he saw Kim standing on her doorstep.

"Hey Ron, can we talk?" she replied in a melancholy tone.

"I guess you can. Me and Hanna were just about to learn the secrets of Robatayaki before you showed up. It's one of those cooking techniques any simpleton apparently can learn." He said as he cheap shot Kim in spite of the following evening.

"That's interesting." she replied attempting to remain civil. "I'm sure Hanna would really enjoy learning some of the cooking techniques that come from her culture."

"It's Japanese?"

"Yes. It's Japanese." she replied doing all that she could do not roll her eyes in front of him. "Look, let's go upstairs and talk."

Up in his bedroom, Ron plopped down on his bed while Kim opted to grab his office chair and sat in it backwards across the room from him. They both stared at each other in silence for several minutes as an uneasy tension filled the quiet room.

"Hows your shoulder?" Ron asked, breaking the ice.

"Sore"

"How did you do on your test?"

"I got a 65. Failed it."

"Oh, sorry to hear that."

"It is what it is."

"I didn't see your scooter out front…forget it in Seattle?"

"Um...yeah, Wade's got someone picking it up for me."

"Ron, about last night."

"I know KP, I was out of line, I know I dropped the ball, next time we go out on a mission, I'll be sure to get better transportation and get there when I'm supposed to."

"Ron."

"No, you were right, KP. In fact, I'm saving my money up to get an even better—"

"There isn't going to _be_ a next time." Kim said, cutting him off abruptly.

"Huh? Wh-what do you mean not a next time?"

"I'm out." she replied with a tear beginning to run down her cheek. "I can't keep doing this."

"But, but why?"

"I'm failing my classes Ron, I have no time to study, I'm exhausted when I get back to my dorm, I can't hardly move because I'm so sore, I forget to eat, and I'm close to being on academic probation. I only got in there at the last minute because of a huge favor and a lot of strings pulled. I can't blow it."

"Well, what if we cut back on missions and only did ones on weekends?"

"Oh, so if an eighteen credit hour semester isn't difficult enough, lets risk our lives on the weekend so by the time we come back for class on Monday you're completely exhausted again? No, I can't do that. I already told Wade. He's taking the website offline tomorrow and forwarding all of our accounts to Doctor Director and her agents at Global Justice. Maybe she can take care of them, maybe she knows of another young upstart in high school looking for a challenge, either way it's not going to be me. Or you. Or Rufus."

"But...do I get a say in this matter?"

"You're inability to show up when you were supposed to speaks enough on your behalf already Ron."

"But..."

Kim laid her forehead against her wrists as she leaned forward in the chair as she tried to find the words she was looking for.

"Look Ron," her voice somewhat trembling, "We both knew that me going off to college was going to strain our relationship. I don't think we realized how hard it would be."

"Well, we could still talk to each other every night, play Everlot together and all that other stu—"

"You're not hearing me!" She interrupted "It's not just the missions. It's YOU!"

"Me?" Ron whimpered.

"I'm smothered, every moment of spare time I have has me either stuck on the bed talking to you on the phone for hours, grasping for straws on things to talk about, or you have me logged onto that stupid video game with thousands of other nerds living vicariously through a bunch of pixels rather than living a real life!"

"I don't have any friends at college, I'm surrounded by different, unique and interesting people and I socialize with none of them because I spend all my free time with you. It's like I never leave my dorm room. It's like I never left Middleton."

"You act like that's a bad thing."

"It _is_ a bad thing Ron, college is the time that you spread your wings and fly. Meet people from all walks of life; open your mind to new experiences. Do new things."

"And what about being a hero who has saved the world countless times? Doesn't that count for anything?"

"It counts for annoying frat boys trying to get selfies with me in the food court every day." She replied in a huff. "Or the fan art, or the," Kim shivered. "fan fiction. Do you know what people have me doing with Shego on some websites?! I didn't mind little kids wanting autographs and pictures but I'm tired of the celebrity treatment, I just want to be left alone! And just to have a normal college life."

"I, uh...I can change...I could try to maybe transfer to a community college in Eugene and be closer?" Ron said, grasping for straws. "I can find a job...give you your space...I'll— I'll uninstall Everl…"

"Stop! Please. Just stop!" she interrupted as she tried to hold back tears "You're making this harder than what it already is."

There was an uneasy silence which fell over the room. Ron could hear his heart beating loud and in a panic. It felt as if it was in his throat.

"Kim. What are you saying?''

Kim leaned forward and rested her chin on the back of the chair as she tried to utter the words Ron feared were inevitable. Her eyes began to water as she tried to work up the courage to say what she was wanting to but she couldn't bring herself to utter those words.

"I'm s-sorry." she finally managed. "I'm so sorry…"

With that, Ron knew she was breaking up with him. Crushed, he buried his head in his hands, and began to shake his head as if to say "no." Soon, the movement intensified and it became obvious that he was fighting back tears.

Ron wasn't the only one in tears, Kim was busy sniffling herself, trying to keep from completely losing it. In her heart she knew she would devastate her old friend with this decision, but in her head, all of the frustration, all of the headaches, all of the stress she had convinced herself that this was the proper course of action. All of the time apart and all of the introductions of new experiences she had during college had made her put her relationship under a microscope. She had convinced herself that Ron, as loving as he was to her, wasn't right for her. That him remaining in Middleton was a bridge back to high school and the status quo over progress and discovery. She convinced herself that he was holding her back, that she had outgrew him and that without him, she could truly live the life she had always hoped she would. She'd never tell him this. It was hard enough to merely break up with him. To tell him such feelings would have destroyed his being.

She managed to collect herself and stood up from the chair. She slowly walked over to her sobbing friend and put her hands on his shoulders.

"I'm sorry Ron," she whispered as she bent down and gently kissed the top of his head. "we had a good run."

With that, she slowly rose and exited his bedroom. She made the long walk downstairs to where she came across Rufus now awake and indulging himself with nachos after successfully bedding Hana down for a nap. He looked up from his snack to look at Kim, who hurried down the stairs and headed towards the front door.

Perplexed, Rufus chirped up to get her attention as it wasn't normal to leave Ron's house without saying bye to him and giving him a little head scratch. She opened the front door and turned around to look at the mole rat with wet bloodshot eyes. Upon seeing this, Rufus' trademark grin was quickly gone and replaced with a look of concern and confusion to why his friend was so upset. As the two of them traded glances, Rufus heard the creaking of the stairs and noticed a sobbing red-eyed Ron slowly dragging himself halfway down the flight.

Rufus looked at Ron, then back to Kim, then back to Ron and then after realizing something very bad had happened let out a small groan and slumped into sadness. Ron never made it past halfway down the stairs and just stood, staring at Kim in the doorway, hoping in vain that she would realize her mistake and run back up the stairs to him. But it wasn't meant to be. Kim took a deep breath and slowly exited the home.

Ron and Rufus both stared dumbfounded at the closed door in silence, trying to comprehend what truly happened. With a sigh, Ron turned around and went back into his room and slammed the door shut, which was done so loudly it woke up Hana.

A few miles outside of town, a teary eyed Kim pulled the Sloth into an empty parking lot and made a phone call.

"Hey,"  
"It's done."  
"Not good."  
"Yeah."  
"I'll be alright."  
"Yeah. I know, thanks."  
"So um, this party."  
"Uh huh,"  
"Right."  
"Yeah, I think I'll be up for it."  
"Sounds great."  
"See you all there."  
"And hey, thanks again."

After she hung up, leaned back in her seat and watched as rain droplets began to hit the windshield. She took a deep breath and tried to clear her mind before putting the car in gear and heading onward to Eugene.


	4. Chapter 4

- APRIL 2009 -

"So, I got a phone call from Carrie last night," Tara said as she sipped her latte.

"And?"

"Wayll ..." she replied as she curled her lip and wrinkled up her eyebrows.

Ron sighed as he slouched down into the restaurant booth. "That good huh?"

"I'm sorry, Ron, she's just … I don't know, is looking for someone a little more ..."

"Handsome?"

"Mature," she finished. "She yelled at me for setting her up with a high schooler."

"She thinks I'm a high schooler?!"

"Well, you did pick her up on a moped and then proceeded to pay for dinner with coupons. Then there was something … Did you really order off the kid's menu?"

"Eh, it's an old habit. I came up with the idea a while ago that if I ordered something cheap from the kid's menu then I could spend more on my date's meal."

"That, might work with someone who has known you since prechool," Tara replied, "but for someone who is on a blind date with you, meeting you for the first time, and all that jazz. Probably not the best way to make a first impression."

"Well, at least I took her out to a decent restaurant this time."

"That you did. At least you learned your lesson from Jeanette and the 'JP Bearymore's Pizza Party-Torium incident'," she replied as she took another sip from her cup. "Ron, hon, I'm glad you've been getting out amongst the living once again and I'm really proud of you for starting to date again, but I'm starting to have some concerns."

"Oh?" Ron responded somewhat surprised.

"Well, seeing that most of the girls you have been on dates with have been friends of mine that I had set you up with, I've been privy to some feedback. And, well, I'm starting to notice a troubling pattern."

"And what kind of pattern is that?"

"Well, um. There appears to be a general consensus that you lack any form of …" Tara waved her hand in the air as if trying to conjure the proper term. "Sophistication?" she finished weakly.

"Wha?" Ron responded in surprise. "Now I might not be a Prince Wally by any stretch, but I do know how to treat the ladies."

"Well, according to them, you need to learn how to treat them a little better," she shot back as she pulled out her smartphone and opened a document.

"Holly said, 'He made me drive him to the putt putt course because he doesn't have a decent mode of transportation. Then made me pay because he left his wallet in his other pair of pants.'"

"Dana said, 'He brought his pet rodent into the restaurant with us and then it proceeded to burrow into Ron's spaghetti.'"

"Jeanette said, 'His idea of a romantic evening consists of being surrounded by eight year olds and an animatronic jug band.'"

"Altea said, 'You set me up with a man-child. I hate you Tara.'"

"And finally, Carrie said, 'I should have listened to Altea. I felt like I was on a date with my little brother.'"

"Need I go on?" Tara concluded as she looked up from her screen.

"Wow," Ron replied in a more sober tone. "I didn't think I did all _that _bad with them to be honest."

"Ron," said Tara before taking a deep breath and forging ahead. "Kim had a bit of a tomboy streak in her, didn't mind getting dirty, and you had the benefit of being good friends way before you decided to take your relationship to the next level. You didn't have to try hard to impress her, Rufus was part of your team, and she wasn't much for being showered with glamor. That being said, most girls out there aren't like her. Most girls will want to be wooed with romance, treated like a princess, and not be asked to pick up the restaurant tab. Especially on the first date where first impressions are crucial."

"I mean, take Logan for example," she continued as she referred to her boyfriend of one year and three months. "For our first date, he picked me up in his car of which he had cleaned both inside and out to the point that it looked almost brand new. He then took me to this nice little seafood restaurant down by the waterfront which looked like a complete dive but had the best seafood in the Tri-City area. The place was small and empty, so we had it virtually to ourselves, which was fantastic. After our meal, we went to the park where we watched an outdoor concert for a couple of hours. And then finally, we went out for some ice cream before taking me back to my dorm. It was fantastic, and as you can see, his charm worked!"

"Yeah, yeah, not everyone is as perfectly romantic as Logan," Ron moaned.

"I wouldn't say he was perfect. He accidently spilled his glass of water at dinner on me and then walked around the park with his zipper down for half the night," she chuckled. "But we laugh about it now. Even with the hiccups he still managed to make the evening all about me. And I couldn't have been happier with the result."

"So you're saying that I should basically be completely not how I am when it comes to dating?"

"I'm saying that you need to approach women in a way that will leave them wanting more, and, I'm sorry, taking them to kiddie parks, making them pay for things, and introducing them to your pet mole rat on the first date is probably not going to get the job done."

"I see," Ron said dejectedly. "That, to me, just sounds like giving up on everything that I like in life. Well, except for making them pay for things. That isn't something that I like in life. I mean, it isn't like I'm a bum or anything."

"Ron, you're rambling," Tara replied. "I mean, Logan was quite a bit of an obnoxious doofus when I first met him during an intramurals match. Honestly, the way he acted when I first met him I would have had nothing to do with him, but when I got him away from his buddies I realized there was more to him than just what I saw on the field. Eventually, he decided he wanted to be with me more than making immature armpit noises with his friends and, well, the rest is history. Think of it as trading something you enjoy for something that you enjoy even more, like an old video game for a new one. Or trading up a Naco for a plate of Filege con Hongos."

"Tara, that is awesome. You actually listened to me when I was talking to you about my chapter on high-end Mexican cuisine?"

"Yeah, Ron, I did. That is what mature people in relationships, romantic or platonic, do for each other. They take an interest in what the other person is interested in, even if it isn't necessarily something that they like, and you might just find out that, like trading that Naco full of processed cheese for that Filete con Hongos with filet mignon and mushrooms, you will find something that you like better than what you liked before."

"Oh, well, in that case I think I could make that sort of sacrifice," Ron replied now salivating. "I guess I just need another chance."

"Good! I think you could do it if you wanted to," Tara replied as she finished up her latte and put up her phone. "As for another chance, um, in a couple of weeks Logan and I were going to come down to the pops concert that they're having at the Civic Auditorium. If I can pull some strings and can get one of my girlfriends to go along with me, would you be interested in possibly doing a double date?"

"A double date and a pop concert? Who's the band? O Boyz? Katy Perry?"

"No, it's _pops _... like orchestra music ... Logan used to play cello and likes to catch a concert every now and then to reminisce. It's actually pretty fun. The theme for this concert is 'Music from Blockbusters' so they'll be playing music from movie scores."

"Sweet! I'd be up for it," Ron said before snarkly rolling his eyes and continuing, "Besides, I doubt I'll be doing anything else by then."

"Now, Ron, don't say that. You have _plenty _of things to do before then."

"I do?"

"Yes, a little homework assignment," she replied as she stood up and left a tip on the table. "You need to work on being a little more mature for the date. Practice in the mirror, maybe practice with your mom, or as a last resort there's always Hana."

"Oh, okay," he said somewhat nervously. "No pressure right?"

"Well, kind of ... I've really only one last person I could probably arrange a blind date with. You're getting quite the reputation amongst my circle of friends, so after this one you're probably going to be on your own in terms of getting dates if it doesn't work out. But on the bright side you'll have Logan and me there with you. So if you get a little off course, we can be your wingmen and try to steer you back in the right direction. Sound like a plan?"

"Absolutely, Tara!" Ron boasted with a newfound confidence at the proposal.

"Good. Now I need to get back to Upperton so I can study for a psych exam I have tomorrow. In the meantime, do like I said and work on your table manners and social etiquette and we'll see you in two weeks and see what you've learned."

"Sweet," Ron said as he got up and walked Tara out to her car. "Hey, um, not to change the subject, but do you ever talk to KP these days?"

"Ron," Tara said reluctantly, "I thought we had been over this."

"I know, I know ... I just. I dunno, a part of me wonders what she's up to nowadays."

"Ron, thinking about her isn't going to help you to get over her. You need to let it go."

"I know. I guess I just wanted to know if she's doing alright down in Eugene. The last time I talked to her she was struggling with her grades and didn't have any free time." Ron looked at Tara sadly. "Tara, Kim was my best friend for twelve years before she became my girlfriend, and despite everything, I still want to be her friend."

"To be honest, I don't know," she responded begrudgingly, obviously uncomfortable about talking on the subject. "I know she made the Dean's List because her name was in the _Examiner_ along with mine, and I think Liz said that she joined a couple of student clubs, but other than that I don't know. She kind of fell off the face of the Earth in terms of keeping up with people."

"Wait, you made the Dean's List too?"

"Yep, I'm also thinking about doing a semester abroad. Logan's obviously not too hot on the idea, but he understands."

"And you never feel smothered?"

"Smothered? No, never. Logan's been my rock, I honestly don't know how I would have made the grades I did without his support. Why? Is that what Kim used as an excuse to break it off?"

Ron replied with a sad pout and a shrug of his shoulders. "Partially."

"Ron, look," Tara said with her hand on his shoulder. "Kim is just like the rest of us who graduated. For the first time in her life she's truly independent, being exposed to a lot of new and different people, places, and experiences. It gets quite overwhelming. I can speak from experience. I mean, you suddenly start to question everything you have ever known, and you really begin to second-guess yourself and sometimes try to distance yourself from your old friends and home. She's not a special case."

"So this is natural?"

Tara's look became firm at Ron's obvious enthusiasm. "I'm not going to stand here and give you any false hopes that you two have a future together or sugarcoat it by saying that she's in a phase that she'll eventually grow out of. All I know is that college can be a challenging time for people. And if you want me to be brutally honest with you, I've got five girls, six if you count Kim, that are saying you have some growing up to do. No offense, but, well, maybe they're onto something ... You know?"

"Hmmm ... Yeah, you're probably onto something there," Ron replied humbly.

"Goodbye, Ron," Tara said as she slipped on her sunglasses and cracked a smile and gave her old friend a friendly noogie. "Work on your assignment and we'll see what you've learned in two weeks. Ok?"

Tara started up her car and was about to drive off when Ron started knocking on her window.

"Yes?" she asked as she cracked her window.

Clearing his throat, Ron said in a clear and robust voice, "I would just like to say that I had a wonderful time with you today catching up over coffee. I hope you have a safe trip back to Upperton, and please give Logan my regards."

"Well, I certainly enjoyed myself as well, Mr. Stoppable. I will be sure to inform Logan of your salutations." Tara winked back at him. "Not too shabby, you might be on your way to becoming a distinguished gentleman after all. See you in two weeks!"

"You can do this, Stoppable!" Ron said to himself as he watched his friend drive of. "Boo and yah."

-END-


End file.
